Ensign Roxanne Queen & Lt. Cmdr. Katsim Peri - "Catching Up" (Part I)
Amanda Nordstrom
((Room 0113, Deck 14, USS Ronin))
Rox could hardly contain herself. She took another look around her quarters and again checked to see if everything looked tidy. Tidy was not necessarily the natural state of her quarters so Rox had spent nearly an hour getting things tidied up. She’d stacked her many padds around the room and moved them to her table out of sight of the communications terminal. She’d only just moved into these “junior officers” quarters. They were spacious compared to the crew quarters she usually occupied. She’d managed to get most of her things unpacked, though her shopping spree on Ferenginar had somewhat delayed that effort. It was clean enough.
She sat at her communications console and carefully followed the instructions Vomek had given her. She would never have been able to do this without Vomek and V’Len’s assistance. V’Len had told her that Peri was now on the USS Octavia E. Butler, a very advanced Stargazer class vessel. Rox knew little about the various vessel classes, but learning that this was a top of the line cruiser convinced her that Peri would love it. Anything sciency was always a boon for her friend. Rox knew even less about the vessel’s namesake Octavia E. Butler, but an inquiry to the library computer informed her that Octavia Butler was a respected and award winning writer of science fiction. Rox added the name to her reading list.
Rox: ::opening the comm channel:: Peri? Are you there?
There was only a starfleet logo on her viewscreen, which gave off intermittent chirps. Rox alternated knocking on the screen and repeating the woman’s name.
Rox: ::knock, knock, knock:: Peri? ::knock, knock, knock:: Peri? ::knock, knock, knock:: Peri?
At last the screen blinked to life and the image of her friend appeared.
Rox: Periiiii!
Rox’s face came into full view on the screen and the subsequent and exuberant exclamation of her name startled her, but it passed quickly. A smile blossomed on her face at the sight of her friend who was now in a completely different quadrant.
Katsim: =/\=Hi Rox. =/\=
That had been the hardest thing about all the changes on the Oumuamua. With the launch of a new ship, multiple crew members had been shifted, and several from their ship had gone to the Ronin - Rox one of them. With Wes once again deployed elsewhere, her closest friends were now far out of reach. Things were better now, she and Avander had become more comfortable around each other - or rather, she’d become more comfortable with Avander. Nilsen…she wasn’t sure if he was a friend or not. She was friendly with him. The new counseller seemed nice. But she was still building those, and wasn’t as comfortable as she had been with those who had left.
Rox: How are you? I’m sorry that it took me so long to reachout. This ship has like 3 doctors, and 2 counselors, it's a madhouse, I’m running all day.
Katsim: Really?
In her mind’s eye, Peri could see Rox running back and forth. The sight was rather funny as she imagined it.
Katsim: Oh…I guess that’s why it’s been a while since we’ve talked.
Rox looked at the ground sheepishly.
Rox: It could also be that before now I was afraid if I called I would break down and cry like a toddler. ::smiling:: I miss you ::holding her index finger and thumb slightly apart:: a little bit.
Peri’s face relaxed. She had missed Rox as well, far more than she could easily express. Nodding she sighed softly.
Katsim: I’ve missed you too.
A lot.
If she still had her powers it would be a simple matter of snapping her fingers and she could transport herself right to Peri. Those days were gone however.
Rox: So how are you? How’s your ::raising her eyebrows, sophisticated voice:: fancy new ship?
Katsim: It’s fancy.
Peri offered a half grin and leaned back in her chair. Fancy was certainly a word for it. Amazing was another. It had the latest of everything, including scientific machinery that gave her a wealth of information she hadn’t realised she could get in a detail that was astounding and sometimes overwhelming. On one hand, that detail meant more information about the universe. On the other, that was so much more data that they had to parse that as fast as the computer was, it still took more time.
Katsim: How are things on the Ronin?
Rox: ::exuberant:: They made me an ensign! And acting ensign! I’m doing Starfleet academy coursework.
That caught her attention and Peri shifted to draw a little closer to the screen. She had known Rox to be dedicated to her craft, but she hadn’t realised that she wanted to do more.
Rox had wanted to wait to spring that news on Peri but once she asked, Rox could not help but blurt it out. She had hoped to hear more about things on the Butler and how the old crew was doing first and then bring up her news. Now the cat was out of the bag and Rox was beaming with excitement.
Katsim: When did you start doing that?
Rox: After our last mission I wanted to ask the Captain and the Commander about a promotion. I only expected to maybe get moved to petty officer but then ::shaking:: they offered to make me acting ensign.
Katsim: What made you decide to take that step? It was a good thing, and Peri would support her friends and encourage her in whatever endeavours she wanted to pursue - except getting back her abilities. That had been too much, and as much as she loved Rox, it was too much responsibility with such fantastic abilities. It would have been too much for herself, and she wouldn’t want those powers.
What had made Rox decide to take the step? She had felt for some time that there was more she could be doing. She’d had experience, she knew things. Even as a crewman people depended on her and she liked that. There had been many things but two in particular came to mind.
Rox: On our last mission we were helping these refugees leave their planet. We came under fire and the new doctor on the Ronin, Ensign Beck, dove on me and pushed me down and threw me under his coat.
Katsim: That sounds…
Bad? Scary? Yes, definitely frightening. Peri wasn’t the sort of person to get into a firefight, though she knew how to use a phaser if that should ever happen. She remembered someone telling her the point of security officers was to prevent such a thing from being necessary. Unfortunately, events didn’t always unfold as planned.
Rox: ::frowning:: It was not nice. He kept shoving my face in the dirt. I was coughing sand for 5 minutes.
Peri doubted she was *really* coughing sand, but she understood it was not meant to be taken literally.
Rox: The whole time all I could think was, “why is this guy doing this? I’ve been out her way longer than him, I’ve seen things, been on a crashing ship, worked with alien diplomats, planets that turned me colors, killer lizards, the Zet. Why is some green ensign shoving my face in the ground?” Because he’s an officer and I’m a crewman. Well no more. I want my experience to count for something.
Peri nodded, but inwardly, she doubted it had anything to do with Rox’s rank. More likely, it had to do with the Ensign’s desire to protect others, and that included Rox who had been with him at the time. She wasn’t going to point that out, however, for in the end, it didn’t really matter.
Katsim: And that’s what made you decide to do more?
Rox: ::laughing:: I don’t care how crazy it sounds, it was a turning point. And yes I have other reasons. Actually Commander Raga showed me a memo V’Airu wrote. She said “While I've found her professionalism occasionally lacking, she's among the finest enlisted personnel who has ever served under my command.”
Rox had actually had the phrase put on a small plaque in her room, and on her terminal when it wasn’t active and possibly replicated a pillow with the words embroidered on it. It was a big pillow. She’d been considering having part of it tattooed on her person, but that plan was still under development.
The comment was actually quite appropriate. Rox didn’t hold to conventional standards of decorum, and V’Airu’s description of ‘occasionally lacking’ was, perhaps, a bit generous. However, the second half, Peri wholeheartedly agreed with, and Rox had joined a small, if growing, number of people that Peri had on the list of finest people she knew.
Katsim: I didn’t realise she said that.
Rox: I mean that’s high praise coming from V’Airu. How is the old bird anyway?
Katsim: She’s taken a leave of absence.
Rox: ::startled:: What?! ::eyes going wide:: What happened?
Rox nearly stood up. Would V’Airu have gone to Vulcan? Betazed? How long would it take her to get the Foxy Lady there? Days? A week. She could pop by and check in.
The reasons were…well, Peri knew the official reason, but she suspected there was more to it than that. V’Airu had been a fine commanding officer, but she hadn’t been quite as approachable as Kells. Rouiancet was even more approachable than either, though Peri was still Peri, and she was generally reserved.
Katsim: All I know is that it was for personal reasons.
Rox: ::standing up:: Do you know where she went? Maybe I could check in?
Peri lifted her hands in a stopping motion, then shook her head. While she understood Rox’s desire, she also knew that V’Airu had taken that leave for a reason.
Katsim: I think she wanted some time to herself, to be honest. To work out some things.
There were rumours about what those things were, but while Peri would give enough information to reassure her friend, she wasn’t going to share information she wasn’t sure was correct.
Rox sat back down in her chair.
Rox: If you say so, but if you hear anything I want to know. ::raising an eyebrow::
She sat quietly for a moment still wondering if V’Airu was ok. Peri was probably right, the best thing to do was to wait and be ready if she called. She decided to let the subject go.
================
Ensign Roxanne Queen
Nurse
USS Ronin NCC-34523
T239811VK2
&
Lt. Cmdr. Katsim Peri
Chief Science Officer
USS Octavia E. Butler
M239008AD0
